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Michigan State Spartans Football Recruiting: 2016 Linebacker Joe Bachie

The former Western Michigan commit flips to MSU

By Joe Tuohey
Leon Halip/Getty Images

2016 Linebacker Joe Bachie

From

Berea, OH (Berea)

Height/Weight

6'1-6'2, 210-225 lbs

Ratings

Consensus three-star. Ranked as a three-star by 24/7 and Scout, two-star by Rivals, and unranked by ESPN

Notable Offers

Bowling Green, Illinois, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Western Michigan

Thoughts on Offer List

Mostly a MAC offer list with Illinois thrown in. Normally this wouldn't be an impressive list, but getting Bachie to flip from Western Michigan is becoming somewhat of a feat in and of itself; Western has the 16th best class in the nation for 2016 per 24/7 composite. That's largely due to early volume and will sort itself out in time. Still, Western is recruiting at an impressive level for the MAC. Plus there's another Big Ten offer in there with Illinois. Not the most impressive, but better than you might think at first glance.

Thoughts on Film

For Berea, Bachie plays middle linebacker and does a nice job dissecting and then stopping the run. He's a solid athlete, as evidenced by his special teams and running back play, and he uses that athleticism to his advantage as a linebacker as well. Bachie doesn't seem to do a consistent job breaking down while tackling; he seems to try and grab the shoulders of the ballcarrier instead of wrapping up. Bachie also appears to have a solid set of hands, making some nice catches while on offense and fielding a few difficult punts on special teams.

I'm guessing his size and speed project him as a strongside linebacker for MSU, though I could see him playing any of the three linebacker spots. Given that he's already in the 220 range, if he were to bulk up to 240 or so, that'd place him squarely in the sweet spot for a MIKE. There's also the potential for a switch later in his career as he bulks, a la Taiwan Jones.

Outlook for the Rest of the Class

Strangely enough, Bachie is the only defensive commit MSU has for the 2016 class at this point. That'll likely change, but an offense-heavy class might not be a bad thing given the depth differences exhibited in the Spring Game. Bachie was one of five commits over the weekend, and is a classic "overlooked" Mark Dantonio recruit.

There are still lots of spots to fill, and MSU fans got some interesting news on that front from Abdul Adams:

I'm hoping Abdul Adams is referring to this:

Using 24/7's class calculator, four-star defensive end Josh King would take MSU up to the 16th best recruiting class, up from 23rd. Would be nice to complement Bachie with another defensive guy.

Congrats Joe, and welcome to the Green and White!

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